No: 55, 14 March 2019, Press Release Regarding Turkey 2018 Human Rights Report Of The U.s. Department Of State

Republic Of Turkey Ministry Of Foreign Affairs 15.03.2019

Protection and promotion of human rights are among our country’s
indispensable priorities. Our efforts to safeguard the fundamental freedoms
of both our citizens and millions of people in all corners of the world,
and to prevent the human rights violations they face, is the greatest proof
to this.

The US Department of State’s Turkey 2018 Human Rights Report, published on
13 March 2019, which is one of the customary documents that is submitted to
the US Congress on over 190 countries every year, contains unfounded
allegations, dubious information and biased interpretations, as it did in
previous years.

We observe with disappointment that in this year’s report, the US once
again failed to recognize our country’s rightful fight against brutal
terrorist organizations, in particular, PKK, FETO, DAESH, and DHKP-C. The
report has not refrained from portraying our counter-terrorism efforts to
ensure national and regional security, executed in full compliance with
international law and human rights as human rights violations. We strongly
reject this approach.

The report, which contains the views of those, describing supporters of
terrorist organizations and circles behind the 15 July terrorist coup
attempt as “political prisoners”, is clearly biased. Prepared by the
country that shelters the head of FETO, the report strengthens the
perception regarding the identity of those behind the 15 July terrorist
coup attempt against our country. We condemn this characterization that
serves no other purpose than politicizing human rights and thereby
impairing the efforts towards the promotion of human rights principles.

It is absolutely unacceptable for those responsible of thousands of
civilian casualties in the course of operations across the world, to accuse
the Turkish Armed Forces, which have gained even the appreciation of the
people of the region that they liberated without harm to any civilians
during the Operation Olive Branch, of civilian casualties.

The ironic accusations towards Turkey by a country whose dark history in
human rights is known by the entire world and whose mistreatment of
migrants including children has been widely reported even in the past year,
is frivolous, to say the least.

The report’s omission of steps taken in the past year following the
termination of the state of emergency, towards the reforms in the areas of
judiciary and fundamental rights, which have been confirmed at the meetings
of the Reform Action Group, cannot be considered to be in good faith.

It is clear that this report, which is far from being objective, has been
shaped by political incentives of the US. Turkey 2018 Report, as such, is
damaging to the credibility of its decades-old tradition of annual country
reports on human rights practices, which it claims to serve as a mechanism
to monitor globally the situation of human rights.

We will continue our fight against terrorism, as before, with the first and
foremost aim of protecting our citizens’ human rights; and we will maintain
our continuous efforts to preserve and strengthen, in accordance with
democracy and the rule of law, the fundamental rights and freedoms.